This is a new year, and a new era.
Mary Hemer, part of Cathedral High School’s rich volleyball tradition as a player and assistant, in 2019 for the first time will be the program’s head coach.
Her objective: take one of Indiana’s most-successful high school volleyball programs “back to what we know.” Her passion for the task couldn’t be clearer.
“It’s personal for me,” Hemer said recently.
Hemer, a two-time first-team All-State selection and two-time state champion who graduated from Cathedral in 2009, has assisted with the program in recent seasons. The Irish, after winning back-to-back state titles in 2015-2016, won the sectional title in 2018 before losing in the regional round.
Hemer, who played collegiately at the University of Wisconsin, said the 2019 Lady Irish will be led by a six-member senior class with strong leaders. It’s a group that includes middles Anna Trieloff, Anna Neale, Joanna Suppiger, libero Jami Hansen, setter Mae Hedrick, and outside Mia Dittoe – with Dittoe splitting time throughout the summer between softball and volleyball.
“There are some different faces than we’ve had in the past,” Hemer said. “I think that’s good. I told the girls that I would be picking the right girls, not necessarily always the most talented. I believe I’ve done that.”
Hemer called Trieloff a “workhorse” and a “super-athletic, super-coachable player” – and called Hansen and Hedrick linchpins of the team.
“This group of seniors would not be near where they are now without Mae and Jami,” she said.
Hemer called the Irish’s competition in Class 4A in 2019 strong, noting that that the team “needs to grow a lot to be super-successful at the end.”
“I believe they can do that, and I believe I have the right coaching staff in order to do that,” Hemer said. “The big thing I see with these girls is they are up for the challenge. I feel like we have the right kids for the right reasons. We’ve gone about this the right way. I truly feel the sky’s the lint with this team.”
Hemer said a key to preparing the players for that challenge was a summer in which she challenged the team.
“They’re hungry,” Hemer said. “I put a lot on their plate this summer. I’ve put a lot of leadership pressure on them to be doing the right things the right way, and for them to drive themselves. It’s not about me holding your feet to the fire; it’s about you holding your feet to the fire and holding each other accountable and how to do that in healthy ways and teaching them how to be a team. It’s exciting.”
Hemer, who played for legendary Irish coach Jean Kesterson, said while part of her objective is to take the program back to what “Coach K has always done,” that won’t mean doing everything precisely as had been done in the past.
“Maybe we bring most of the traditions back and maybe not all of them,” Hemer said. “This is a learning curve for me as well. We’re trying to figure out what means something to us and what doesn’t, and that’s OK. The girls are excited to really get back to these fundamental things we do and what we say. They’re going to embrace as much as they can and set the foundation as we go.
“’I’ll add my personal twist because I’m not Coach K at all,” she added with a laugh. “I wish I could be a Hall of Fame coach, but I’m not. It’s a very personal thing for me. I can’t imagine doing it anywhere else.”
Hemer said while she never had ambitions of coaching at Cathedral while in high school, she now can’t imagine being happier to have this opportunity.
“This is home for me,” she said, adding of the program: “It’s bigger than just a sport. Yes, we’re successful and have a tradition and history of success in this program. That’s definitely something I’d like to continue. It’s lessons that have applied so much further than volleyball and have applied to my life.
“That’s why it’s so personal: because it has impacted so many aspects of my life. It’s so important to get back to that, because in my heart that’s what high school sports are for. Yes, it’s to prepare you for the next steps maybe in that sport, but it’s also to prepare you in the next steps of life.”
